Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 40
सायंप्रातर्मनुष्पयाणामशन देवनिर्मितम् । नान्तरा भोजन दृष्टमुपवासविधिहिं स:
sāyaṃprātar manuṣyāṇām aśanaṃ devanirmitam | nāntarā bhojanaṃ dṛṣṭam upavāsavidhir hi saḥ |
ビーシュマは言った。「人のために神々は、食事の時を二度—朝と夕—に定められた。その間に食を取る規定は見られない。この節制を守る者は、断食に等しい功徳を得る。さらにこの徳法の枠内において、規律ある家長は、客・召使い・親族・庇護を求める者すべての守り手であり迎え手であらねばならぬ。かくして個の自制は、社会への責務を支えるのである。」
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Maintain disciplined eating—only morning and evening meals, avoiding food in between—so that restraint itself yields the merit associated with fasting; this personal discipline is aligned with the broader dharma of supporting and welcoming others (guests, dependents, kin, and refugees).
In Bhishma’s instruction on dharma (Anushasana Parva), he lays down a normative rule of conduct for householders: regulated meal-times as divinely ordained, and the ethical expectation that one’s life be oriented toward protection and hospitality for those connected to or dependent on the householder.